Chancellor unveils raft of measures to get construction moving again

Rishi Sunak outlines furlough bonus, stamp duty holiday and £3bn green building plan.

Rishi Sunak has announced a raft of measures to support construction jobs and boost housing to protect the sector from mass redundancies in the coming months.

Employers who bring back furloughed staff will be paid £1,000 per employee, stamp duty will be cut on homes worth less than £500k until 31 March next year and home owners will get a £3bn grant to make their houses greener.

Despite the stamp duty cut initially being planned for the autumn, it will now take effect immediately due to fears the housing market would be frozen in the interim after the plans leaked.

The chancellor, who called the speech the second phase of the government's economic response to Covid-19, said new apprenticeships will be created with employers paid £2,000 per apprentice for people aged under 25 and £1,500 for those aged over 25.

Sunak also promised to triple the number of places in sector based work academies, and provide £100m to create more places on level two and three courses for 18- and 19 year olds hoping to find work in high demand sectors, including engineering and construction.

Pledging a green recovery, the chancellor also earmarked £1bn to make public sector buildings greener and £2bn for a Green Homes Grant.

The grant will allow homeowners and landlords to apply for vouchers to make their homes more energy efficient, with the government covering at least two thirds of the cost up to £5,000 per household.

For low-income households, the vouchers will cover the full cost up to £10,000, while social housing will receive £50m to pilot green fit-outs including wall insulation and heat pumps.

The measures would see up to 650,000 homes retrofitted and create 140,000 green jobs, the chancellor claimed.

Article source: Building